Hopes are fading for effort to save old church building

& lt;a href=mailto:hill@vindy.com & gt;By IAN HILL & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN --Austintown Growth Foundation members say they most likely will have to abandon hopes of saving a 104-year-old township church from demolition this summer because of a lack of time and money.
Foundation member Carol Fye said the foundation probably won't have enough time to raise funds to move the old First United Methodist Church of West Austintown before the church is demolished in July. The church is at South Turner Road and Mahoning Avenue.
Fye added that the foundation also won't have the time to get approval for a new site for the church or hire a moving company for the project.
"It's probably going to take too long to get the wheels in motion," Fye said at a foundation meeting Monday. She noted that a person not related to the foundation had considered hiring Amish workers to move the church to Hermitage, Pa., but that plan also had been abandoned.
First United Methodist has constructed a new 10,000-square-foot facility. Foundation members had talked about trying to preserve the church and move it west to land near the Strock Stone House on Mahoning Avenue, where it could serve as a community facility for meetings and weddings.
But Fred Owens, growth foundation president, said the talks never went beyond the exploratory phase. Owens said First United Methodist's plans to demolish the facility are moving "at a faster pace than we're able to motivate community action."
New businesses
At Monday's meeting, township zoning inspector Michael Kurilla Jr. also updated the foundation on plans to construct several businesses in the township this year.
Businesses slated to be constructed include the Weston Center plaza at the corner of state Route 46 and Mahoning Avenue; the Greenwood Hummer dealership on Mahoning Avenue; and a joint Taco Bell/Long John Silver restaurant at the location of the former McDonald's on state Route 46 just south of Interstate 80.
Kurilla added that so far, there are no plans to build a business at the former site of Country Gardens on Mahoning Avenue near Norquest Boulevard.
& lt;a href=mailto:hill@vindy.com & gt;hill@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;